I'd put Cargo, Bardens and Notting Hill Arts Club way before Nambucca (who good has ever played there?), The Windmill (worst sound ever), the Dublin Castle and the Hope and Anchor.

I agree with the inclusion of the Old Blue. The booker / manager of the place really knows his stuff and there's some good free nights, even if the clientele / atmosphere downstairs isn't to everyone's taste.

I'd certainly nominate Cargo and NHAC. Dublin Castle and Hope & Anchor seem to be on the list for historical reasons rather than any great relevance these days. If you are going for small venues that have on a lot of incredibly new (and mostly fairly ropey) acts, I'd include the Bull and Gate and Water Rats.

Nambucca has changed a lot since LED! played there, mate. The live bit is pretty much a seperate room now and the stage is to the left hand side rather than in the corner. It's still not great, but it's a lot better than it was.

and you probably can add Cafe OTO to that list. The programming so far is nothing short of sublime: Anni Rossi, Times New Viking, Jay Reatard, Mt Eerie, Richard Youngs and Charalambides are all due to play.

as long as it isn't completely sold out, the sound quality depends very much on whoever does the sound and it costs hardly ever more than a fiver to get in.

But it's mainly listed because the various promoters that use the venue hardly ever fail to deliver: Artrocker, Twee as Fuck, Goonite, Silver Rocket et al all know how to put a strong, coherent bill together.

it seems as if the Guardian have decided to admit there are decent pub venues in South East London, so they don't seem like they never go South, but then fail to actually scout them out and just do a google search to find them instead.